CROSS & JACKSON: ANOTHER DAY

David Jackson have recently been joining the David Cross Band as a special guest at their live performances, playing David Cross Band material as well as a few King Crimson classics plus George Martin's Theme One, that was covered by Jackson's Van der Graaf Generator in their early days. Personally, I am hoping very much that a live album and/or live video of one of these performances will emerge.

Another Day is a totally different beast however, being the result of a collaborative effort of David Cross and David Jackson. This album is more of a Jazz-Rock/Fusion album, compared to the Heavy Prog of the David Cross Band. The most similar to Another Day among Cross' solo albums is probably his first, Memos from Purgatroy, from 1989. David Jackson's 1992 solo album Tonewall Stands can also be a relevant reference.

The music on Another Day is completely instrumental and driven by Cross' violins and Jackson's saxophones. The two instrumentalists are backed by drums and bass, handled by Craig Blundell and Mick Paul respectively. The result is high quality fusion that showcases Cross and Jackson on their respective instruments.

Another Day is an enjoyable listen, and is worth having if you are a fan of Cross' and Jackson's careers outside of their respective bands.

David Cross was the violin player of King Crimson, during the years 1972 and 1974 and participated in the albums Larks Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red. Further than King Crimson, he played with many famous musicians and recorded lots of solo albums.

David Jackson has been the saxophone player and a former member of Van Der Graaf Generator, until 2008. He also played with lots of musicians during his long career, like Peter Gabriel and Peter Hammill for example.

This year, the two David's decided to unite their musical forces and the result was the album Another Day that was released a few months ago.

Another Day is an all-instrumental album, having as basic instruments the electric violin by David Cross and the saxophones of David Jackson, accompanied by bass, keyboards and drums. The style of the album is Jazz-Rock and is not so easy to listen to, especially if you are not familiar with this specific music style. Personally speaking, I found it difficult to get used to it, and I'm not sure if I can appreciate it to the level it should be appreciated.

There are some beautiful and melodic songs included here, like for example Going Nowhere, Millenium Toll and Anthem for Another Day, mixed with some others more Jazzy ones, which I didn't like so much...

My rating would be 3 stars